TIMARU HARBOUR BOARD.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13916, 29 May 1909, Page 2

TIMARU HARBOUR BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. Th- Tiinarn Harbour Board met yesternay. I'rcseiu —Messrs .1. Lrui'-ie. (cliaiiiiiani, I. u. loung, r . ~. jT,,,ksion, L>. C. Tiirnbiill, c. N. Uro. n. t.. buckings, J. r,. Ooodwm. \Y. J human. J. .•.laiicuestcr, G. \\ . Aniiita"'c. I>*. Thcw. and K. .Skinner. CH.YlK.vlA.\'.> .^i.viEMENT. The chainnan said he was pleased to be able to report that" Captain ClarKson. liarbotirinaster, was mukiim good progress towards recovery. 11" would be gratifying to members to know that the past fortnight had ben a record one tor shipping; the vessels berthed between May J. to Mav 23 th had a gross tonnage of 271. .sus, and for the last ten days the tonnage in the port totalled 1.58,2!.),. the length of the vessels in the aggregate being 1J.121 feet. Such an amount of business at the port showed that the building of a nvw wharf was fully justified. There had been received since last mcetin." in ship's dues, £l4lO Is 7d. and the credit balance at last meeting stood at £l-212 12s Id. The accounts to be passed that day amounted to il-I.JG <Ss !)d. leaving a credit balance of £ll 72 4s lid. Of the 1900 £.5!.).(J1J loan there were still to sell debentures to the value of £i'3.7()(>. A deputation from the Oainaru Harbour Board had waited on this Board with a view to hiring dredge 3-jO, but nothing came of the negotiations, the Oamaru members considering that the price asked tor the hire was too high. The Ashburton County Council had discussed the question of joining Timain Harbour district. The position taken up by them was hardly a logical one as they wanted representation without paying rates.' That of course, could not be. The Board did not want to coerce Ashburton in the matter, but it would be pleased if the Ashburton people could see that it would be to their advantage to join the Tiinarn harbour district: >uc!i action would enable the Board to reduce its levy on the contributing bodies and the levy from Ashburton local bodies would be very small. The general labourers' dispute had ben settled by conciliation in Christchu'reh, and members would be pleased to know that the Harbour Boards were exempted. Mr Bardsley represented the Tiinarn Hoard at the conference and had d.iiie good seitviee there as be judged from the very satisfactory result. There had been some further communication in reference to superannuation. This was a very important matter and tin* Board should sonsider it .scri-uvly as it had in its service a number of good servanfs who were entitled to consideration in this way. He did not think that the super-

animation scheme would be of any service I'uless supplemented by funds from the Board.

A 'otter. li:ul liccii received I'ruiii the Navy League in regard to the adoption of the llin-.sc system of lighting :it tin- lighthouses along the' coast, and lie thought this a very good sugge-tiou. The i|iie.stion as to the constitution of Harbour Hoards would come up'auaiu for discussion at tlie Harbours Conference, and he thought they might very will take llie constitution o!' the Tiiuaru Hoard a.s a model. -Mr Haynian: Except in regard to the advantage given to boroughs over counties in th'. 1 matter of voting. The chairman .said yes, I;e agreed wLh that exception. Jt was not right that a iiiau owning say £JO'J,UOO worth of property in the borough, would have "lily one vote while a Borough resident would have a vote lor himself and his wife. COIUiESPONDENCE. TheGreymo-.i'.b Harbour lioar'd wrote asking lor particulars of the duties speciiicd by the Tim.iru Hoard for their uivdge master and mailing master. — I his information had been supplied by inc sccretarv.

Mr William I'ryor. secretary to the New Zealand Employers' Federation lorwarded an account lor £1 Is, tne Hoard's proportion of his expenses in attending the sitting of tlie Cuiiciliat'oif> Conned <'t Timaru and Christ - church. He'thanked the secretary personally tor his assistance in connection with the dispute. Messrs !• leming and Ferguson, Ltd., Paisley, advised mat a east steel (bottom tumbler for <lredge 350 was despatched per the s.s. Alatatua." 'I he price of tin? tumbler was £B7. Mr Ciiarlcs Keid, Ashburtoii, writing regarding the proposed representation ot Ashburtoii county on the Timaru llarbi.ur Uoard. Saul that unless this could be secured witliout rendering the district liable to rating Ik; was afraid little could be done. He telt sure lh.it it wo'ij-j be greatly to the advantage of the Timaru harbour Hoard if hail the 'Ashburtoii county were included in its district.

Mr J. T. Stephen, on behalf of the wharf employees wrote asking the Board to provide a shed where tne men eoi.ul store their bicycles in safety while they were at work.—'J'he chairman saw that the cost of the material would by only £-3 or £(3 and the men would put the place- up themselves. He thought the request should be granted. ,\:at..nai to the value of £o to be supplied. Captain John Wares, of the dredge Taniuhi. applied for an increase of salary from id per week on the ground of the extra responsibility a"_l long hours entailed as assistant pilot and his temporary command of the dredge 3-jIJ. Iho application was supporteu by Captain Tait and tlie re-suii-nt engineer. Jt was decided to raise the salary to/£IG pe,r month during the absence of Captain Clarksou. The resident engineer advised that it was advisable to have a spare shaft with worm for the ladder hoist engine ui dredge 3-3 U.

The New Zealand Ironmasters' Association. Wellington, wrote :idvisiug as to the object lor which it had been formed, namely to enable members to Ouy to advantage, to obtain of information useful to members and to ensure preference for New Zealand Ironmasters over British and foreign firm's. At the present time New Zealand ironniast'-rs wvn' feeling very keenly, the slackness of trade, and by accepting New Zealand tenders employment would be given to many skilled workers while money would be kept in the country.—-To be considered when future tenders are under consideration.

.Air \V. G'owan. Capetown, wrote offering in tin 1 l?u;irtl ;i twin screw steel tup fur COSO!) delivered ;it Tiniaru. He also od'ercd a twin screw steel liueliet hopper dn-d^vr.—Mr Manchester said lie thought tlie Hoard should go into the question of procuring a tug. —Tin' cli:iiriii:iii thought a tug could hi- done without in* tin. meantime. -- Mr Ilayman thought they should have a tup. He di<l not advocate the purchase i;i the one under offer, though be had seen it on the slip at Capetown. - The secretary said that the "ii.-'rootir-niaster w;is decidedly opposed to a ttijr. Jle said that a tup would chusc trouble instead of saving it.—T.'ie natter then dropped. The Wellington branch of the Xavy League wrote bringing under notice the great advantages of the Morse system of night-signalling as in use - in H.M. \avy. The Hoard was asked to cooperate with the League in getting the )")ei)artnient to establish the Morse light system of lighting at the leading lighthouses round the coasts. —Received with approval.

ENGINEER'S IJEPORT. Tlio resident engineer, Mr F. XV. Clarke, reported that tin.- contractor for the new "hart'. Air 'l'. I'\ Slowcy, lias commenced operations. Some ol the ma I crial for ilk- concrcto wall and sloiic pitching jit. tin: allure -.'lid of wjiarf is on we ground, also 4o piles, anil oUicr niaicnal, snitl anotlicr si dement- 01 umber lias arrived in .\I ; »v Acal.itnl and should be delivered Jicre m a week's tune. The contractor should be really to conniieiice pile-driving au tne end ol tin's inoiitli. i»epairs to the eastern mole -staying wvrc nearly completed. Un the otn hist., a very succcsslul shot was hied at the quarry, displacing ,about 12,UUU tons of stone, and .since then 10U0 tons of large stone have iieen tipped in the mole. The repairs to tne damaged portion of wo wall should be completed in June. I'rcdging. —Good progress has been made snwe last report, anil 23,')0<.) ions haw been removed at the new wharf by No. 3-50 at an average lift of 233.!) ions per dredging hour. It is expected that the two berths of a total length or llo'U feet will be completed in a fortnight, and then the work in the outside channel commencing at the entrance to the inner harbour will be pushed on as vigorously as the weather v. ill permit.- The Taniwlia has been working at the shore end of the south berth at the new wharf, removing the boulders, etc., so that No 3-3U can deepen this berth for an additional length of 30ft.. and also at the -Main and Moody wharves.

The plan of the resurvey of-the harbour with soundings extending to the roadstead will be ready for holographing in June. Hetnarks ou correspondence re plan ami cost of automatic tide-gauges were appended. .Mr Stickings said he noticed that dredge 3-3U did not dredge half her time, she took longer to discharge Her. load than to pick it up; and he suggested tfiat it might be profitable to get two hopper barges to lay alongside the dredge so that she could discharge into them. The Tauiwha mightbe made to do duty for one. Mr Young said that the Taniwlia would sink under the load.

•Mr Stickings said that at the present rate of progress it would-take 3 years to complete the dredging here, whereas if his suggestion wciv adopted it might be completed in 18 months. The chairman said he would 'mention the matter to the engineer. H.UiBOUK MASTER'S HKPOBT.

The acting harbour master. Captain Tait, reported the arrival of 20 steamers and three sailers in April, total 47,739 tons. The weather during the month has been generally fine, with occasional moderate seas. .Soundings have been taken in the channel and swinging basin' wtith results recorded. The depths are practically the same as reported last month. Erom 20th to 24th inst., the berthage accommodation was considerably overtaxed, the following steamei-s having to wait in tinroadstead: —Eangton Grange 3 days. AYirihora 3 days, Comma. Wanaka and "H'iriina one day each. The Coriuna on the 2l)th inst. was sent on to Dunedin. there being no berth available.

llr Tunibull .said that shipmasters d 'sired a stronger and better light oir the eastern extension.—The ■ chairman approved of the suggestion, and it was agreed that the light should be improved. CALCULATING CHAKGES. Pursuant) to notice of motion. Mr Turnbull moved "That for the purpose of calculating charges, for the use of fenders and hawsers, the charges shall commence from the time of berthage, and.shall be levied for every 24 hours (Sundays awl . holidays excepted) instead of from midnight to midnight as at present.'-' Speaking to the motion

he .contended that it was unfair to charge a vessel for services which she did not get, as often happened under existing circumstances. At present when a vessel came in say, at 11.30 she would be charged for hawsers and fenders that day and also For the whole of the next dnyi even though she might only be working for an hour. The secretary supplied a lvturn showing the mode of charging at other ports. This showed that Oamaru, New Plymouth, Greyniouth and AYellington charged from midnight to midnight, and the other ports 24' hours from arrival. If the proposed mode of charge i,.,,l >,,..;,, J,, force during the year ended 30th April, last, the charges to the ships would have been less hy £lO9 12s 2d. Since the by-laws were altered, amending the charge for hawsers and fenders, the reduced revenue to 30th April, last, had been £10.51 17s. The chairman and other members supported Mr TurnbuU's proposal and it was carried. Mr Young rovn:;r'--'d that he brought the same matter up some time ago and the Board would not hear of it then. TRADE OF THE PORT. The secretary supplied the following comparative .statement showing the trad<» of the port for different months during which it had bee" heavies* ■ — Tmpts. Exots. Tl. Mav 'l«01 ... :W>-"> 9,mr^ August 1903 ... 10714 9132 lf>B4fi' Anrii ro'o6 '■:..' fi«V2 i° m "i SOiri ■\r. iv Alav 1 'O9 Mav2S 8114 12733 20847 ACCOUNTS. Acr-mnts v.-oro passed for payment aiid the Board rose.